Decanter with attached spout-handle and method of making same

Abstract

Decanter with attached spout-handle comprising a glass carafe having a neck portion with an upstanding ledge providing an opening thereinto, a spout-handle having an annular cavity loosely receiving the ledge of the carafe therein, and a plurality of attachment elements securely received within the cavity of the spout-handle and engaging the ledge of the carafe for interlocking and securing the spout-handle with the carafe about its opening. A flexible material is received within the cavity of the spout-handle for sealing against leakage the spout-handle with the carafe. The attachment element comprise a plurality of spring clip elements at spaced locations about the opening of the carafe, each being a spring metal strip having a substantially V configuration with first and second legs joined at a rounded center portion which is positioned over and secured with the ledge of the carafe, with the legs being on opposite sides of the ledge. The cavity of the spout-handle provides opposite surfaces and each of the legs of the spring clip elements engages an opposite respective surface for securing the clip element and the spout-handle with the carafe.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A decanter with attached spout-handle comprising a glass carafe having a neck portion with an upstanding ledge providing an opening thereto, a spout-handle having an annular cavity loosely receiving the ledge of the carafe therein, a plurality of separate attachment means secured and entirely received within the cavity of the spout-handle and each extending about and engaging the ledge of the carafe for interlocking and securing the spout-handle with the carafe. 
     
     
       2. The decanter of claim 1 in which the plurality of attachment means comprises a plurality of spring clip elements. 
     
     
       3. The decanter of claim 2 in which the spring clip elements each comprises a spring metal strip having a substantially V configuration with first and second legs joined at a rounded center portion. 
     
     
       4. The decanter of claim 3 in which a plurality of the clip elements are positioned over the ledge of the carafe with their legs on opposite sides of the ledge and at spaced locations about the opening of the carafe. 
     
     
       5. The decanter of claim 4 in which the cavity of the spout-handle provides opposite surfaces and each of the legs of the spring clip elements engages an opposite respective surface for securing the spout-handle with the carafe. 
     
     
       6. The decanter of claim 5 in which at least one of the surfaces of the opposite surfaces of the cavity of the spout-handle is provided with a ridge, and the ends of the legs of the spring clip elements have an edge for engaging the ridge and firm-y securing the clip element with the spout-handle. 
     
     
       7. The decanter of claim 1 in which the neck portion of the carafe is provided with positioning means for engaging and retaining each of the attachment means at predetermined locations spaced one from the other about the opening of the carafe. 
     
     
       8. The decanter of claim 7 in which the positioning means of the carafe comprise projecting means from the ledge of the neck portion for engaging and retaining the attachment means. 
     
     
       9. The decanter of claim 4 in which the neck portion of the carafe is provided with retaining means comprising a plurality of projections from the ledge each for engaging the clip elements and retaining the elements at their spaced locations about the opening of the carafe. 
     
     
       10. The decanter of claim 9 in which the retaining means comprises a plurality of pairs of spaced projections from the ledge of the carafe each for receiving and retaining therebetween a respective one of the clip elements for preventing its displacement and the displacement of the spout-handle about the opening of the carafe. 
     
     
       11. A decanter with attached spout-handle comprising a glass carafe having a neck portion with an upstanding ledge providing an opening thereto, a spout-handle having an annular cavity loosely receiving the ledge of the carafe therein, a plurality of attachment means secured within the cavity of the spout-handle and engaging the ledge of the carafe for interlocking and securing the spout-handling with the carafe about its opening, and a flexible material received within the cavity of the spout-handle for sealing the spout-handle with the carafe, the plurality of attachment means comprising a plurality of spring clip elements each including a spring metal strip having a substantially V configuration with first and second legs joined at a rounded center portion, the plurality of the clip elements being positioned over the ledge of the carafe with their legs on opposite sides of the ledge and at spaced locations about the opening of the carafe, the cavity of the spout-handle providing opposite surfaces and each of the legs of the spring clip elements engaging an opposite respective surface for securing the spout-handle with the carafe, at least one of the surfaces of the opposite surfaces of the cavity of the spout-handle being provided with a ridge, and the ends of the legs of the spring clip elements have an edge for engaging the ridge and firmly securing the clip element with the spout-handle, and the upstanding ledge of the carafe having a bead edge and the center portion of each of the spring clip elements having a curved configuration for receiving the bead edge therein, the legs of each of the spring elements being pressed together within the groove of the spout-handle securing the center portion of the spring clip elements about the bead edge of the carafe for firmly retaining same therewith and securely engaging the legs of the spring clip elements with the spout-handle. 
     
     
       12. The decanter of claim 11 in which at least one of the opposite surfaces of the cavity of the spout-handle has a plurality of adjacent ridges providing intermediate grooves, and an edge of a leg of each of the spring clip elements is received in an intermediate groove and engages one of said ridges to firmly secure the clip element with the spout-handle and interlocking the spout-handle with the neck of the carafe positioned and securely retained within the cavity of the spout-handle. 
     
     
       13. The decanter of claim 12 in which the ridges and grooves on the surface of the annular cavity of the spout-handle are provided by a plurality of adjacent annular grooves in its surface, and the plurality of ridges and grooves provide means for adjusting the position of the neck of the carafe within the annular cavity of the spout-handle. 
     
     
       14. The decanter of claim 13 in which each of the opposite surfaces of the cavity of the spout-handle has a plurality of adjacent annular ridges and intermediate grooves, and the edge of each of the legs of the spring clip elements is received in a groove of a respective surface and engages respective ridges for securing each of the clip elements with the spout-handle and interlocks the spout-handle with the neck of the carafe positioned and securely retained within the cavity of the spout-handle. 
     
     
       15. The decanter of claim 11 in which the neck portion of the carafe is provided with a plurality of pairs of spaced projections extending outwardly from the ledge of the carafe each pair of projections receiving and retaining therebetween a respective one of the clip elements at their spaced locations about the opening of the carafe and preventing their displacement and the displacement of the spout-handle about the opening of the carafe. 
     
     
       16. A method of forming a decanter utilizing a glass carafe having a neck portion with an upstanding ledge and a spout-handle having an annular cavity for loosely receiving the neck portion of the carafe therein, including the steps of: (a) positioning a plurality of spring clip elements over and spaced about the upstanding ledge of the neck of a glass carafe,   (b) applying a fluid resilient sealing material within the annular cavity of a spout-handle for the glass carafe,   (c) inserting the spring clip elements while about the neck of the carafe into the annular cavity of the spout-handle and into engagement with the opposite surfaces of the annular cavity, so that the neck of the carafe is received into and positioned within the cavity and interlocked by the clip elements with the spout-handle, the resilient sealing material encompasses the neck of the carafe, and   (d) allowing the sealing material to solidify and provide a resilient liquid seal between the spout-handle and carafe.   
     
     
       17. The method of claim 16 in which the ledge of the neck of the carafe is provided with a plurality of spaced pairs of projections positioned about its opening, and in step (a) each of the plurality of spring clip elements is positioned between a respective pair of projections of the carafe for retaining them in position and preventing their displacement about the opening of the carafe.